Firefighters to show off new station

PEWAMO — The Lyons Township Pewamo Fire Department is set up in its new station and plans to show it to the community during Pewamo's Block Party.

The fire station, which was located at the center on town on the corner of Main and State streets, has now officially been transferred to 137 E. Main St, its new home. It wasn't an easy task for the members of the fire department, but they made it happen.

"To get the building up to code before we could actually move into the building, we had to build this two-hour fire rated wall to keep the apparatus bay separated, because that will eventually be a training room, so they have to be separated," Fire Chief Jim Cassel said. "We had some fellows from the community come in and do the majority of this, donated their time to do this. We bought the materials and they came in and did the work."

The firefighters gear and trucks were moved in on April 25, but the transfer from one building to the other went on the books on April 26. While the firefighters have moved their equipment, there is still more that needs to be done.

"As you can see (we have) lots of projects to do and limited funds to do them, so we have to prioritize what we have to have versus what we want. We have a new roof put on the building and that was done right away. Our generator is being finished up," Cassel said. "The plumbing and that wall is probably going to exhaust us until we can get some more money and fundraise."

The plumbing and wall Cassel is referring to will be in addition to a planned polling station and community center on the front part of the building. The plumbing will include adding men and women's bathrooms, showers, a laundry station and a decontamination shower. The wall will be to separate the community center and restrooms away from the fire rigs.

At the old station, to have a meeting meant having to move all the trucks out to even get more than three people inside. Now with four times the room, they won't have to do that anymore.

"It's been great as far as being able to get in here, work on stuff, have a meeting without moving all the trucks out, we can actually just set up a table sit down with chairs and have a meeting without rearranging the entire place. So it's been great on that," Cassel said.

The main room where all of the firefighters turnout gear is, will be turned into a training center and then a wall will partition off the turnout gear from the training room. Cassel said he hopes this will create an easy flow when firefighters come in to get their gear on and go out on a call.

Cassel said the village, township and department of public works has really helped with funding, accommodating the firefighters and bending over backwards to help out.

"Those DPW guys have been our biggest ally in this whole thing, because if we need something done they get it done," Cassel said. "There is a lot of stuff that needs to get done and some of it had to be done quick."

So far the firefighters have taken in over $40,000 in donations from the community. Anyone wanting to donate can give money to the village and make a note to have it go towards the fire department or send it to the fire department at 137 E. Main St., P.O. Box 56, Pewamo, MI 48873.

The firefighters will be on hand at the station Saturday, Sept. 9 during Pewamo's Block Party to give tours of the new station. There will also be a tribute to former fire chief Bill Wandell. The open house runs from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and the tribute will follow.

More changes are also coming for the fire crews as they were awarded a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant for firefighter assistance. The $130,000 grant will go towards the purchase of a new brush/fire rig. This means they will be able to retire two vehicles.

"We've got a committee put together of four members who are working together to fine tune what we need and want on the truck, because they can get pretty expensive, but we do have a budget," Cassel said.

Those members plan to take a tour of the company and see where the vehicles are made in October.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.